Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
CloseRyan Sim - October 22, 2013
Tuesday - Study It - Becoming Like Family
We asked yesterday if you could list of what comes to mind when you hear the word “church”. Our lists probably included buildings, events and services. It may have included organ and choir music, stained glass windows, dusty books, bake sales and more. It may evoke good experiences, or bad ones. But not how the Bible usually sees “church”. Church is described in several cases as a family. This is why our vision is to become a church made up of many groups who are “like family” with one another. But you might immediately think this means something strange and cultish, usually because our ideas of family today is pretty narrow. We think of family as the nuclear, immediate family in isolation. But in Jesus’ culture, in some cultures today, and not so long ago in Western culture, the family was the word used more naturally to describe an extended network of relations, often living in the same area. That was the context for family in Jesus’ day, and Jesus had plans to develop a new kind of extended family. Here’s a striking moment when he described his plans to create an alternate family: Matthew 12:46-50 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” On the one hand, it seems Jesus just put down his mother. I just saw “Guilt Trip” where Barbra Streisand plays Seth Rogen’s overbearing mother. She calls several times a day, tries to get him to drink water constantly, and so on. In the middle of their road trip, he finally snaps, and tells her off. It seems like that might be what Jesus is doing to his mother here. Is he putting her down, in his plans to join another family? Look at it another way. Jesus is actually elevating his disciples to family status. His followers, fellow practitioners of his kingdom, are his family. She’s not excluded. Later in the story of Jesus’ life and death, we see Mary his mother appearing as a devoted member of this extended family, and Jesus even assigns one of the disciples to look after her after his death, saying he’s her new son, and vice versa. Jesus isn’t narrowing his definition of family to exclude blood relatives. He’s broadening it, to include his extended family of followers as if they are blood relatives. Question: Imagine your immediate family suddenly adopting a dozen new members. How would it change your way of life? What would be the pros and cons?
Related Topics: Church, Family, Parents, Siblings | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio
From Series: "Becoming Like Family"
This series looks at becoming “like family” with others learning to follow Jesus. We're exploring how the church is not a building, institution or event, but a community of people. It's important that explore what church means as we prepare to launch a new church in Ajax in 2014.
More Messages From Ryan Sim...
About the Parenting Children CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
About the Parenting Teenagers CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
About the Marriage CourseRyan Sim - July 1, 2012 |
||
About the Christianity 101 CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
Day 1 - IntroductionAugust 1, 2012 |
||
Day 2 - The Big Story Act 1August 8, 2012 |
||
Day 3 - The Big Story Act 2September 1, 2012 |
||
Day 4 - The Big Story Act 3September 2, 2012 |
||
Day 5 - The Big Story Act 4September 3, 2012 |
||
Day 6 - The Big Story Acts 5 and 6September 4, 2012 |
||
Day 7 - Is there a God?September 5, 2012 |
||
Day 8 - How Does God Reveal Truth?September 6, 2012 |
||
Day 9 - Why The Bible?September 7, 2012 |
||
Day 10 - Faith & ReasonRyan Sim - September 8, 2012 |
||
Day 11 - Who are we?September 9, 2012 |
||
Day 12 - Free WillRyan Sim - September 10, 2012 |
||
Day 13 - A Life Centred on GodRyan Sim - September 11, 2012 |
||
Day 14 - Alienation from GodRyan Sim - September 12, 2012 |
||
Day 15 - The Problem with our World and with UsRyan Sim - September 13, 2012 |
||
Day 16 - Replacing GodRyan Sim - September 14, 2012 |
||
Day 17 - The Consequences - 1 and 2Ryan Sim - September 15, 2012 |
||
Day 18 - The Consequences - 3 and 4Ryan Sim - September 16, 2012 |
||
Day 19 - The Problem of EvilRyan Sim - September 17, 2012 |
||
Day 20 - What God Did About EvilRyan Sim - September 18, 2012 |
||
Introduction to Daily ChallengesNovember 2, 2012 |
||
Monday - New Idea - Poor in SpiritNovember 12, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Poor in SpiritNovember 13, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Poor in SpiritNovember 14, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - Poor in SpiritNovember 15, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Poor in SpiritNovember 16, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Those who MournNovember 19, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Those Who MournNovember 20, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Those Who MournNovember 21, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act - Those Who MournNovember 22, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Those Who MournNovember 23, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - MeekNovember 26, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - MeekNovember 27, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - MeekNovember 28, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act - MeekNovember 29, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - MeekNovember 30, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Poor in SpiritDecember 3, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - RighteousnessDecember 4, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - RighteousnessDecember 5, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - RighteousnessDecember 6, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - RighteousnessDecember 7, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - MercifulDecember 10, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - MercifulDecember 11, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - MercifulDecember 12, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - MercifulDecember 13, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - MercifulDecember 14, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Pure in HeartDecember 17, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Pure in HeartDecember 18, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - Pure in HeartDecember 19, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - Pure in HeartDecember 20, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Pure in HeartDecember 21, 2012 |
||
Christmas EveDecember 24, 2012 |
||
Christmas DayDecember 25, 2012 |
||
Boxing DayDecember 26, 2012 |
||
Thursday - December 27December 27, 2012 |
||
Friday - December 28December 28, 2012 |
||
New Years Eve - GrowthDecember 31, 2012 |
||
New Years Day - GroupsJanuary 1, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - January 2 - GraceJanuary 2, 2013 |
||
Thursday - January 3 - GenerosityJanuary 3, 2013 |
||
Friday - January 4 - GodJanuary 4, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - PeacemakersJanuary 7, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - PeacemakersJanuary 8, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - PeacemakersJanuary 9, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act - PeacemakersJanuary 10, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - PeacemakersJanuary 11, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - PersecutedJanuary 14, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - PersecutedJanuary 15, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - PersecutionJanuary 16, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act - PersecutedJanuary 17, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - PersecutedJanuary 18, 2013 |
||
Monday - New Idea - Living BackwardsJanuary 21, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Living BackwardsJanuary 22, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Living BackwardsJanuary 23, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act on It - Living BackwardsJanuary 24, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Living BackwardsJanuary 25, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - SaltJanuary 28, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - SaltJanuary 29, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - SaltJanuary 30, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - SaltJanuary 31, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - SaltFebruary 1, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - LightFebruary 4, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - LightFebruary 5, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - LightFebruary 6, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - LightFebruary 7, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - LightFebruary 8, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - LawFebruary 11, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - LawFebruary 12, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - LawFebruary 13, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - LawFebruary 14, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - LawFebruary 15, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - AngerFebruary 18, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - AngerFebruary 19, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - AngerFebruary 20, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - AngerFebruary 21, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - AngerFebruary 22, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - The LookFebruary 25, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 26, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 27, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - The LookFebruary 28, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - The LookMarch 1, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - TruthMarch 4, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - TruthMarch 5, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - TruthMarch 6, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - TruthMarch 7, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - TruthMarch 8, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - RetaliationMarch 11, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - RetaliationMarch 12, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - RetaliationMarch 13, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - RetaliationMarch 14, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - RetaliationMarch 15, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - NeighboursApril 8, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - NeighboursApril 9, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - NeighboursApril 10, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - NeighboursApril 11, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - NeighboursApril 12, 2013 |
||